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But she was so incensed that the thought didn’t bother her. “Jerk!” she said.
Noah threw up his hands, then heaved in a breath and tried visibly to take hold of his temper. “Honey, listen to me. You’ve been sheltered…”
A ceramic hairpin box from her dresser dashed to the ground with a shocking crash. Juliet stared at the mess of shards, aghast, baffled, and then more aghast and baffled when she realized it was her hand that had thrown the thing.
Noah took a step toward her. “What is the matter with you—”
Smash! The little tray she used to hold her earrings before she went to bed shattered into a hundred pieces between them. This time she wasn’t surprised by what she’d done. “Leave.”
He hauled in another quick breath, looking ready to refuse again, but then his gaze caught on her hand creeping toward a glass figurine that she’d never really liked.
“We’ll talk when you calm yourself,” he said through his teeth.
The figure hit the back of the bedroom door he closed behind him. She was never talking to him again.
This time when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror over the dresser she wasn’t surprised at the flush of color on her face or the bright color of her eyes. This is how I look in passion and in anger. A full circle. A complete person, not someone’s idea of the perfect lady, or damsel in distress, or elegant hostess.
Juliet Weston, former widow made of glass, now was an industrious employee, a trusted oldest sister, a hot-blooded woman.
Okay, and maybe sometimes hot-tempered, but only when honestly provoked. It felt good, like spring verging on summer, to let her emotions have free reign.
The phone on her bedside table rang, and she snatched it up, not sure if she hoped or didn’t hope that it was Noah.
It was Nikki.
And what she had to say chilled Juliet, an unwelcome and forcible reminder that winter was on its way.
Sixteen
O peace! how many wars were waged in thy name.
—ALEXANDER POPE
When Nikki, Jay, and Cassandra arrived at the house, Juliet was already in the foyer, in the process of rolling her largest piece of luggage from the storage closet near the garage to her bedroom. Her youngest sister took one look at the wheeled suitcase and frowned. “Running away won’t solve anything.”
Juliet pushed it down the hallway, then turned to face the others. “Short of disappearing altogether, my preference, what other choice do I have?”
“Maybe it’s not that bad,” Cassandra suggested. “It’s just some ridiculous celebrity gossip site…”
Jay lifted the laptop he had tucked under his arm. “Let’s look at it together.”
He set it up on the kitchen island, while Cassandra bustled around making tea. Beside Juliet, Nikki hovered impatiently. “Jay’s e-mailed a weekly preview from a few of the celebrity rags and websites because NYFM’s online edition has a feature they call ‘Rumor Roundup.’ ”
A few keystrokes, and there it was, in all its blazing ugliness. “Happy Widow and Her Happier Pool Boy.” A dull knife stabbed Juliet right through the heart.
The headline was more loathsome than the photo, which she recognized as she and Noah at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Halloween. They were physically close, thanks to the chain’s tiny tables, but yes, they appeared emotionally close, too, their gazes focused on each other.
It looked bad.
The text of the article, brief though it was, contributed to the tawdriness. It was all there: Wayne, Juliet, Noah. Rife with innuendo, it said that the man she was pictured with had been her husband’s aide during the last months and days of his life.
“The book’s publication was supposed to put the focus back on Wayne’s achievements,” she said. The dull knife in her heart took another turn.
“The book’s mentioned,” Jay pointed out, scrolling down. “Look, here’s a paragraph on the launch party being given by Helen Novack.”
Nikki leaned down to squint at the screen. “The launch party you were specifically asked not to attend?” She straightened, and her gaze swung around to Juliet. “Is that true?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t insist, how could I? And Noah was there beside me—”
“Which makes me wonder,” Nikki said. “Who would have tipped the gossips about your relationship with him? Did it come from this Helen?”
“It’s so unfair to Noah, too,” Juliet said, sick all over again. “None of this is anyone’s business.”
“Damn straight,” Nikki agreed.
But then Juliet remembered her argument with Noah, his ridiculous orders, the flare of her temper, and the way he’d marched out. “Especially when there’s nothing between us anymore anyway.”
